…in brief

The
head of the US Society for Human Resource Management, Helen Drinan has
announced she is quitting after just 16 months in the job. Drinan, SHRM
president and CEO, said she and the board "did not share the same views
about how best to achieve the overall goals of the organisation". She said
the differences "were significant and would stand in the way of
progress". SHRM has more than 165,000 members.www.shrm.org

Graduates
get ethical

More
than 75 per cent of graduates would not work for a company with a poor ethical
record. Research, on behalf of Axiom Software, shows 56 per cent of graduates
believe it is still possible to be selective about a potential employers’ ethical
record even when the economy is under pressure. Half of the 700 studentswould take their ideal job, over a higher
paying job.www.axiomsoftware.com

Army
recruits’ boost

Pay
for young new recruits to the armed forces has been boosted by 12.5 per cent in
an attempt to attract more soldiers. The increase is in response to a study
that found school leavers earn more from other employers. It also found there
is a shortage of 6,500 soldiers. Wages for new recruits under 17 will rise from
£8,000 to £8,997.www.army.mod.uk

Firms
lack ideas

UK
business lacks the commitment to capitalise on innovative ideas from employees,
despite moves to encourage a more creative work-force. But Managing Innovation,
researched by the Industrial Society, finds 75 per cent of the 193 HR
professionals polled say their firm encourages new ideas from staff. www.indsoc.co.uk

ILA
scheme fiasco

The
select committee investigating the collapse of the £200m Individual Learning
Account scheme has learnt a third of those with an account didn’t even realise
they had one. Research by York Consulting shows one in three of the 4,000 ILA
holders asked had no idea they were listed as part of the Government’s failed
training programme.